Dollar keeps gains on upbeat data

The US dollar rose against most currencies on Thursday, lifted by upbeat US economic data.

The US Department of Labor revealed that the number of initial unemployment claims was at 332K last week from 325K, lower than forecasts of 332K.

The US retail sales index rose 0.7% in August, beating forecasts of a drop by 0.7%.

The core retail sales reading (excluding food and fuel prices) rose 1.8%, beating forecasts of a drop by 0.1%.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has ordered an examination of the Fed's ethics rules around investments of central bank officials to avoid financial conflicts of interest.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.4% to 92.9 points as of 17:16 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.9 points and a low of 92.4 points.